Speechless (GRETHAN)

Chapter 23: Like A Babbling Baby

Grayson Bailey

"Continuing our discussion on the moment of force of a line, take this example. Let 'F' be a force acting at a point 'A', 'O' be any point on the given line 'L' and 'a' be the unit vector along the line, then moment of 'F' about the line 'L' is a scalar given by (OA x F) * a."

Mr. Parker jotted equations on the board and scribbled random values here and there. I struggled to keep up with his pace as I noted down the same in my notebook. My pen doodled the numerical while my eyes swapped glances between my book and the blackboard. It was a while when the bell rang loudly, indicating that school was over for the day. "Copy these solutions down and we shall continue tomorrow." The teacher gathered his books along with his miscellaneous belongings and walked out and down the hall.

The bell also made my fellow classmates scurry to their lockers and then home or to a restaurant or wherever kids spent their Thursdays. While every coming weekend was for nerds like me to spend time in solitude and study and get good grades, others whiled away their time at house parties and the sorts.

I arranged my books and my papers in a neat and well-aligned pile and I slid them into my backpack. Before I walked out, I glanced at Ethan's empty seat and it made me subconsciously smile to no one but myself. It just reminded me how many times I had missed him that day. I knew he wasn't attending school, he was otherwise occupied with a rather funny story. I ran my fingers over the cheap and chafed wood of the desk and I finally left the room. I was essentially last.

Ethan was having his wisdom tooth surgically removed and in fact, I'm headed to the dentist's office to meet him now. I was looking into my phone, smiling to myself as I walked down the semi-empty hallway. Suddenly, I was brutally shoved into the wall causing my forehead to directly make contact with the concrete. I jerked my head toward the intruder and Chase Sinclair and Jaxon stood face to face with me. Behind their towering figures, I saw the shadows of the remaining students scurry, leaving and my goons to the crime that was most certain to be committed.

"Hey there fag.",he vulgarised. Out of fear, I slipped my tiny phone into one of the back pockets of my trousers. I visibly swallowed hard. "You seem alone. Your bodyguard ain't by your side? Oh dear, did he leave you? Did he break up cause you wouldn't let him pound your backside, fag?" He laughed evilly with venom, disgust and purely-intentional homophobic comments. Tears clouded my eyes and I knew I was letting my guard down, no matter how hard I tried not to. They'd beat me if they saw me shed a tear.

Jaxon yanked me from the wall and simultaneously, he pulled my backpack away from my body. I jumped to grab it but Chase shoved me once more until I fell onto the floor. I was scared. They knew it. They could see the fear on my face while it only fuelled their excitement to mess around with me. It was after-school hours. They clearly had no other intention than to be here and mock the handicapped, in essence, me.

Despite snatching my bag, degrading me and shoving me into the wall, it seemed like I hadn't filled their quota of fun, not until Lucas intervened. He appeared out of no where and yanked me to my feet from the collar of the winter jacket that belonged to none other than Ethan himself. Chase and Lucas were in possession of my school bag. They zipped open the bag and threw my books and papers onto the floor, inevitably emptying all the contents of it. Lucas reached for my water bottle that I carried and he drunk the contents, throwing the bottle behind him. I heard it strike the wall somewhere until it bounced about on the floor, rolling into a corner. Chase kicked my books and papers and I could feel the pain in my chest by just seeing his feet make contact with educational material. I clenched my eyes shut and apologised to the Lord for having this disgrace brought upon something sacred that granted me knowledge.